Diamond Princess Disappointing

[JimC]

Forgot to ask, do you need Visa for China ? One of the reasons I did not jump on the sale was I thought it would be near impossible to get Multi-entry Visa to China so close to sailing, giving now Chinese Consulates no longer accept applications from mail.

 

Yes, you have to have a visa for China. You have to appear in person or use a visa service or a friend- no mail service. We went to the consulate in San Francisco. We had to leave our passports and they returned them with the visa one week later. The cost was $75 pp for U.S. citizens, $45 pp for all others (!!). They won't even pay the postage for that price- you have to bring a prepaid "trackable" envelope (FEDEX, Express Mail, etc) for them to use. They have "express service" which for an additional cost can get you a visa in one day. You can only get a single or double entry visa, not a multiple entry visa.

[nho9504]

Yes, you have to have a visa for China. You have to appear in person or use a visa service or a friend- no mail service. We went to the consulate in San Francisco. We had to leave our passports and they returned them with the visa one week later. The cost was $75 pp for U.S. citizens, $45 pp for all others (!!). They won't even pay the postage for that price- you have to bring a prepaid "trackable" envelope (FEDEX, Express Mail, etc) for them to use. They have "express service" which for an additional cost can get you a visa in one day. You can only get a single or double entry visa, not a multiple entry visa.

 

I know the hassle. I meant double entry visa, as the multiple entry visa requires a letter (invitation) from some organization in China, and is for commerce purposes. Last time in 2002 I did the visa via mail, and also had to pay for a tracking return mail service. I gave them a stamped Express Mail envelope for that purpose.

 

My worry is, the passport can be lost when it is being sent back. Within such a short time before sailing, that would be nightmarish. I read about someone whose passport was lost by Fedex and she had like 4 days before flying to Beijing ! She had passport services issued the replacement within 24 hours, then she flew to LA to leave the passport with a service to handle the visa being re-issued. She flew back to Pheonix to tend her business. On the day she flew to China via LA, she arrived LA before noon, rented a car, drove to the service office, picked up her new passport with the new visa, then flew to Beijing on a flight that just past midnight. That would cause me heartattack should that happened to me !!!